Behind Hazel Eyes
by MoonlightWishing
Summary: In 2005, Lalie Thomas was attacked and brutally murdered, leaving her boyfriend and family in tatters. Now, 3 years on, Lilly and the team are determined to find the truth beneath the lies so those who knew Lalie can finally begin to rebuild their lives.
1. Prologue

**Behind Hazel Eyes**

15th July 2005

"_I won't talk, I won't breathe_

_I won't move, 'till you finally see_

_That you belong with me_

_You might think I don't look_

_But deep inside the corner of my mind_

_I'm attached to you"_

It was one of those moments, thought Lalie, when the world seems so perfect, so peaceful, like you could forget everything else, and just be. It was a time when you could lose yourself in the moment and realize everything that's good about life.

She nestled further into her boyfriend's arms and turned her head to look up at him through shining hazel eyes.

And there he was; sun-kissed skin, dirty ash blonde hair swept to the side, looking down at her. Her very own Greek god.

Jason.

_"I've waited all my life_

_To cross this line_

_To the only thing that's true_

_So I will not hide_

_Its time to try_

_Anything to be with you_

_All my life I've waited_

_This is true"_

He felt her warmth against his skin, and the way her body fitted perfectly with his. He lent down and kissed her neck.

Lalie.

She was everything to him; the one thing in his life that he knew would never let him down.

A summer breeze wafted past, ruffling her light brown hair as she looked out, beyond the edge of the horizon where the sea met the sky.

Jason watched her teeth worry her lip, and the dreamy look in her eye. She always had that look when she was thinking, daydreaming.

"Off with the fairies," he often teased her and she would smile back serenely, with a sparkle in her hazel eyes.

"_You don't know what you do_

_Every time you walk into the room_

_I'm afraid to move_

_I'm weak_

_It's true_

_I'm just scared to know the ending_

_Do you see me too?_

_Do you even know you met me?"_

"Hey," he said and she turned round "I love you", as he lent to kiss her softly on the lips

"Hey," she replied stroking his hair "I love you too,"

"_I've waited all_ _my life to cross this line_

_To the only thing that's true_

_So I will not hide_

_Its time to try anything to be with you_

_All my life I've waited_

_This is true"_

The sunset was beautiful that night; fiery reds and oranges bowed to the darkness of night as it crept forward.

Lalie lay on the ground, hazel eyes wide and glassy, her hair fanned out beneath her. Police lights lit up the darkness and the air was filled with sirens. People gathered behind the yellow police tape, murmurs passing through the crowd

"So young…"

"Who was she?"

"Poor thing,"

A lone figure broke away from the group and ran forward, his anguished cry shattering the night into a thousand pieces

"Lalie!"

He knelt by her body, ignoring the pull of policemen on his arm. His world had died, his sun had imploded. Now there could only be darkness.

****

Footsteps echoed down the empty corridor s the detective filed the white box away amongst so many others. Lalie Thomas had been 16 years old, her life was just beginning. She could have done anything, been anyone, until one night and one act had taken it all away from her.

The case had gone cold within a week. Her killer was still walking around out there, somewhere.

The detective sighed and glanced at the white box for one last time before turning away and walking back up the metal staircase.

**Authors Note: Please review. Pretty, pretty please with cherries on top? Pretty, pretty please with cherries and Danny Pino on top?! Ly**


	2. Chapter 1

She saw him from across the room. He was young, maybe 21, with tousled dirty blonde hair, and a loping walk that seemed to convey a sort of easy grace. Good looking, Lilly thought, handsome even, in a rugged kind of way. But even from metres away, she could see that the hands of grief had etched his face with marks of loss and sadness, faded, but still visible.

For a moment, she allowed her mind to wander from the enormous pile of paperwork sitting on her desk, and she thought about this boy with the dirty ash blonde hair across the room. She wondered about his story, his life, and the etchings of heartache engraved on his skin. But most of all, she wondered what had happened to bring him here on a warm July morning?

So engrossed was Lilly in her meandering passage of thoughts that she didn't notice him walking across the room, between the rows of detectives, towards her desk, at least, until he spoke

"Detective Rush?"

"What? Sorry? I..uh..I"

With a sudden jolt back to reality, she looked up into a pair of bright blue eyes, twinkling slightly with obvious amusement at her disorientation.

"Jason. Jason Sanders" he held a hand out

"Lilly Rush" she said, returning the handshake "Please, sit down. How can I help you?"

As Jason took a chair, and she perched on the desk, he began to talk

"I'm here about my…my girlfriend. Her name was Lalie…..Lalie Thomas."

"Was?"

"Yeah, she… she was killed in 2005." He paused for a second, taking a breath and it was clear that each word about her cost him great effort "I never really got over it….I always expected her to walk in the door, laughing, telling me it was all part of some elaborate joke. But, she never came back," he stopped again, and Lilly felt tugs at her heartstrings for this boy, who she had only just met, but who had lost so much. Looking down at the floor, he started again "After she died, everyone kept telling me to move on with my life, but I….."

"Couldn't." she supplied the word for him

"Yeah." There was silence for a minute, Jason lost in his own memories. Lilly watched him, eventually clearing her throat before speaking

"So, Jason…uh…" His eyes cleared, and locked with hers again

"Yeah, sorry. I…uh…I wouldn't have come, except that I was flicking through the newspaper a few days ago and I…uh…I found this" he finished, digging in his jean pockets before producing a crumpled newspaper article dated 15th July, two days ago.

Quickly, her eyes scanned over the cutting, detailing the prosecution of a prolific serial killer, before she frowned with confusion and looked up.

"I definitely remember him - the murders were brutal and well publicised, but I don't get it. What does Tomlinson have to do with Lalie?"

Jason leaned forward

"I know…I wouldn't have noticed either except that it mentioned Tomlinson's, sort of, signature, was to scatter rose petals over the girl's bodies…"

"Like Lalie?"

He sighed "Not exactly…I mean, it wasn't like the other girls. They found petals, by her. It wasn't many, just three or four, and nobody paid any attention to it at the time - it didn't seem that extraordinary, I mean, they could just have fallen... but not I just think that maybe..."his voice tailed off

"You think it Lalie could have been Tomlinson's first victim?"

Lilly sighed, looking again at the insane amount of paperwork on her desk, before turning back to the boy in front of her. "You know, Jason, it could just be a coincidence, I mean, the petals could just have been lying there, fallen from a nearby bush. It….it just doesn't necessarily connect the cases, you know. And we're really busy right now. I'm sorry. " She bit her lip, and looked him in the eye, preparing herself for his bitter disappointment, but to her surprise, his eyes were hardened with a steady resolve.

"Lilly…" he said, and she flinched at the use of her first name "Lalie was everything to me. She was funny, and kind, and perfect. She was the one person that kept my life solid, kept my world spinning steadily round. When she died, it was like…like I was a lost moon—my planet destroyed in some cataclysmic, disaster-movie scenario of desolation—that continued, nevertheless, to circle in a tight little orbit around the empty space left behind, ignoring the laws of gravity.

Tell me, Lilly, have you ever loved like that? That deeply, that purely, that passionately?"

She didn't answer, images flashing through her head; Ray on a motorbike, lifting his helmet, running a hand through black curly hair. Then Joseph; cuddling up to his warm body in bed, his arm around her. Kite. A kiss in the snow, a warm hand on her cheek. Had she ever loved like that?

"Lilly. Please. I know it won't bring her back, but at least it will bring her peace."

His plea broke her from her reverie.

"Jason, look…" she opened her mouth to refuse again, but something stopped her. Had she ever loved like that? "I'll see what I can do for you," she finished and was rewarded by a smile that seemed to light up his face, making him look a million years younger.

_A/N Sorry for the long wait! I was away for two weeks, and then I had school and homework and coursework....! Anyway I hope you like...and thank you to all of you who reviewed! You keep me going! :)_

_Mari: Thank you so much!I like cherries with Danny Pino on top too! :)_

_FloatingAmoeba: Thank you lots and lots and lots! :) I'm glad you like it!_

_wolfeylady: Thank you! Hey - he was mine first!! :) But because you reviewed, you can have him! :)_


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